Nacewa To Retire At End Of Season

Leinster have today confirmed that Isa Nacewa will leave the province at the end of the season and retire from professional rugby due to family reasons.

Isa Nacewa joined Leinster in the summer of 2008 and has played a pivotal role in their three Heineken Cup title successes.

Capped 116 times to date, the 30-year-old Aucklander has accumulated 375 points for the province in all competitions.

In 2011 Nacewa was named both the Irish Rugby Union Players' Association (IRUPA) and the Leinster Rugby Bank of Ireland Player of the Year, as well as being chosen as full-back on the PRO12 Dream Team for 2011 and he was shortlised for the ERC European Player of the Year.

Leinster expect to announce news of a new signing in the coming weeks.

Commenting on the news, Leinster head coach Joe Schmidt said: "I've known Isa for a number of years. He's universally respected due to the quality of his character, his athleticism, skill and commitment.

"He has been great value for us, not just on the field where he has provided a string of highlights but off the field also, where he has contributed enormously to the development of the players around him.

"He's hugely popular amongst supporters and hopefully they will enjoy a few more outstanding performances from Isa in the coming weeks."

Looking forward to facing England on Sunday, Ireland winger Tommy Bowe said: "We've trained very well this week, we're really excited about the game. It's about going out there and doing whatever we can to get ourselves that win."

Second row Devin Toner previews Ireland's crunch RBS 6 Nations clash with England, saying: "It's a pretty formidable English pack. Attwood and Kruis have played fantastically well. They're well drilled and focused and their scrum and lineout are very good."

Looking forward to facing England this weekend, Ireland back rower Sean O'Brien said: "It's obviously exciting, but it's one game at a time. I don't think there's any more pressure on us than in the first two games. That's the way you have to look at it."

Irish Rugby TV sat down with Ireland Under-20 scrum coach John Fogarty to talk about the U-20 Six Nations so far and Friday's clash with England at Donnybrook. Tickets are on sale on www.ticketmaster.ie.

Shane Byrne and Malcolm O'Kelly preview the Ireland v England Legends match which takes place at Donnybrook this coming Saturday (kick-off 7.30pm). Tickets are available from www.ticketmaster.ie. All proceeds from the game will go to support the IRFU Charitable Trust and the RFU All Schools Charity.

Watch highlights from the Ireland team announcement press conference as Joe Schmidt reveals the team to play France. Peter O'Mahony says it is good to 'have some big figures back' for Saturday's clash.